Napoleon

Review

Napoleon drank Ottakringer

A house with history: the mighty, listed building was first mentioned in 1494 as the Kagraner Freihof, and Napoleon is said to have slept here in 1809, which is why the restaurant, which opened in 1999, was named after the short, tall Frenchman. The restaurant has been history since 2019. Today, Napoleon, the dog of the new owners Bernd and Irmgard Querfeld, is the namesake behind the restaurant, and he also adorns the logo, all maps, boards etc. Fellow dogs have their own mats, bowls and Viennese water "all they can drink". The city-famous restaurateur couple (Café Landtmann) took over the Kagran institution and turned it into a place for many and many things in April. There is plenty of space in the expansive, colorful interior, with a hunting room, herb room, artist's room, grandma's kitchen table and everything else on the two levels here.
But the heart of the place is the large beer garden with its mighty old trees and lots of gravel, sandy beach with sun loungers and palm trees, tree house, sofas with a flower pattern, an old painted car with flowers growing out of it, a vintage car sofa and individual beach shoes as guest garden decor. And why not: here, the waiters are pushing liters of beer through the gravel, first and foremost freshly tapped house beer, a malty, tangy specialty beer from Ottakringer, Napoleon's house and court brewery. Also on tap (and from the 16th district) are the pale Bio Pur, a light and a red Zwickl and the "Wiener Original" lager. Craft beer is now part of the range, specifically from Brauwerk Wien (Ottakringer). So far, so good. The Napoleon also serves Prosecco, Hugo & Co, (organic) wine from Wieninger, Urbanihof, Reumann and others, and even privately bottled schnapps (Marille). The menu, which is illustrated with photos and garnished with beer tips, offers starters ranging from hummus with fluffy falafel and warm pita bread (amazingly good, € 9.00) to home-made brawn (extremely thinly sliced, with plenty of red onion, vinegar, a little seed oil and brown bread croutons, € 11.50) to beef tartare and gratinated bread.
The main courses are dominated by baked dishes, such as a rather dry and bitter chicken liver with okay potato and mayo salad (€ 13) or baked ham patties, gratinated in portion size, quite good, with cucumber and cream salad, which was more on the creamy side (€ 13). Because the portions are large, there is no room for desserts, the sweet things are familiar from Café Landtmann, Museum, Mozart, Schönbrunn etc. anyway. To sum up: the Napoleon has a new namesake, the Kagraner a beer bar that takes few culinary risks.

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